Monsignor Farrell's Balise Rufo (yellow singlet) got things started on the right foot when he pinned St. Joseph by-the-Sea's Justin Plataroti in the first match at 120 pounds. (Hilton Flores/Staten Island Advance)

Monsignor Farrell had an easy time capturing its eighth straight Staten Island Duals championship as the Lions routed St. Joseph by-the-Sea 57-20 on Wednesday in Huguenot.

Although the Lions made it look easy capturing victories in their first 11 matches, the squad made sure they didn’t slip up against their Island CHSAA rival.

“It means a lot. It makes us want to go for that next goal and to keep wrestling hard,” said senior captain Tim McCann. “Once you accomplish one thing, you want to accomplish the next. It gives us hope. And since we’ve been doing it, it just makes us want to go for more.”

The Staten Island Duals took place over the weekend in mid-December featuring the borough’s top public and Catholic teams, except for Farrell’s top squad which competed in the prestigious Shenendehowa Duals. The team with the best record then earned the right to square off against the Lions’ top wrestlers at a later date.

So when Sea finished 7-0 after topping Petrides for the best finish, the teams decided to use their regular-season CHSAA contest to double for the Duals championship. So while some people may have looked at Wednesday’s score as highly expected, Farrell made sure they didn’t have a letdown.

“Nobody should be looked over. Nobody should be looked at like a pushover,” said McCann. “Everybody is going to have a tough match and you should look at everyone that way and not take anything lightly.”

It didn’t take long for Farrell to take charge as Blaise Rufo (120 pounds) and Paul Schianodicola (126) started with pins and Karl Weisner, Matt DeSantis and Paul DiStefano posted decisions.

McCann’s 31-second pin then started a stretch of five straight pins as Mike Bourgelais, Andrew Psomas, Rrok Ndokaj and Rich Sisti followed with pinfalls.

“I thought we looked real good. I think everybody is wrestling really well. Everyone is working real hard in the (wrestling) room and it’s showing on the mat,” added McCann. “It’s step by step. You go from Island (title) to city (title) to Catholic states to (New York) states. It’s one step at a time but everything leads to another goal.”

NOTES: The two Island squads also squared off against Xaverian in a CHSAA match and Long Island Lutheran in a non-league match. The Vikings beat the Clippers 66-12 and topped the Crusaders 45-30. Using its B team, the Lions notched a 45-16 decision over the Brooklyn team but lost to Long Island Lutheran.